Tips for Restaurants

Research shows that nearly 80% of restaurant sales – whether a one-store independent or a member of a major chain – come from within the three-mile radius that represents your neighborhood. Are you directing 80% of your marketing efforts toward that critical area? Or even 50%?

The mass marketing myth that the more people you reach, the more business you will attract just does not work for neighborhood businesses like restaurants. The battle for the heart, mind (and pocketbook) of the local patron must be won block-by-block, store-by-store and purchase-by purchase through what we call neighborhood marketing.

The neighborhood marketing process begins with the following primary activities which will provide the data you need to target your activities:

Define your customers
For each meal period, find out who your customers are and where they live and work. Over a two-week period, ask all guests for their home and business zip codes. Record the information by meal periods and transfer the totals and percentages to a local zip code map. You may be surprised at the results.

Identify Promotion partners such as retailers, groups, fund-raisers or facilities you can team with to share customers through cross-promotion. For example, you might distribute a ticket discount that drives diners to the local theater. A discount for after-the-show ticket stubs can drive theater-goers to you.

Identify community events
Certain community events are potent sales and/or business-building opportunities – parades, concerts, fairs, walk-a-thons, etc. Check your local Chamber of Commerce for a list of activities.

Collect consumer media information
Gather data about local media which will reach potential customers in and around your trading area. Ask for rate cards as well as information on scheduling and required ad materials. Utilize your zip code research to help identify your best targets.

Guide to Serving Local Food

• Start small—during the growing season, replace foods that you already serve with the same product from local farmers.
• Learn about local agriculture—visit farmers markets, call your Cooperative Extension office, and find out what organizations work with farmers in your area.
• Visit each other—tour farms and invite farmers to your facility to gain better insight into how you can work together.
• Work through your existing distributors—ask if they offer any local products and encourage them to do so or to do more.
• Be patient—buying local can be rewarding yet challenging, so be flexible and set realistic expectations and goals.
• Advertise—let your customers know what your are doing by labeling foods that come from local farms and tell stories about the products and their producers

Promoting Locally Grown Produce

• Tell patrons that you use locally grown foods can be an effective marketing tool.
• Identify food sources on published menus – e.g., Apples from Pat’s Orchard.
• In a school setting, visit with classroom teachers about using local foods in lessons.
• Feature locally grown foods in specials and mention them in advertising.
• Make table tents, posters, and other displays to show where the food products you use are grown and/or how sustainable production methods were used.
• Report your efforts in working with local food producers to managers and organization leaders.
• Share information about your use of local food products with others, including local media contacts.